One wonders how long Lord Frost will retain his new position. The personnel decisions made by the PM are nothing if not frequent, ruthless and mercurial.

The whole affair is very curious. While I am sure that Lord Frost’s elevation owes much to his relationship with the PM and the perceived success of the Brexit negotiation, it is very curious indeed that allegedly it took a threat to resign to secure this new role.

A role which is needed (although might have been structured differently) but was to a large effect previously undertaken (with reasonable success) by Michael Gove who one might imagine may not be entirely happy with this diminishment of his responsibilities.

What might have happened to have resulted in this dramatic and to some extent destructive move (which appears to have been played out in the context of a wider struggle that saw Oliver Lewis (previously Lord Frost’s (LF) negotiation deputy)?

The original sin, of course, is the agreement to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Who knows who did what to who or thought what about what but my speculation is the PM either did not understand the consequences of the Protocol or was assured they could be successfully addressed.

Hello 2021. I’ve been down with Covid since New Year's Day and it’s been pretty brutal. When I lived in India a few years ago I got dengue fever and typhoid at the same time. This has felt worse. And more scary. Thread. 1/12

Having written early on in the pandemic about the many weird ways Covid can attack the body, I knew what could be coming. Please take it seriously, and don’t listen to the loons who tell you it’s just flu. 2/12

I had excruciating back pain and headaches, a temperature but luckily not too much trouble breathing. My heart had a couple of funny turns, and 1 day last week I just burst into tears every time I tried to read or watch TV. Covid finds your vulnerabilities and attacks them. 3/12

I'm hopefully on the mend now, but still feel like I’ve been hit by a baseball bat. And I'm generally healthy with no underlying conditions. Thanks to the #NHS and the marvellous paramedics who keep everything moving and turned up twice at my house when I really needed them. 4/12

So, what’s been happening? Apparently it’s a lot more difficult to trade with the single market. Which must have come as a shock to anyone who thought talking to actual experts about practical problems - and, you know, facts - was just the latest iteration of Project Fear. 5/12

Hello everyone! Hope you brought your packed lunch and some money for the gift shop!

Please indulge me: I want to chat about something I’m really passionate about… museums!
What is a museum?
Where do they come from?
How have they changed?
And what might their future be? 1/

To understand something, it can help to start with the words we use. Understand the origin of a word and you can learn a little bit about the thing.

So Museum originates from a Greek words Μουσεῖον ‘Mooze-eon’ meaning a place devoted to ‘the muses’.
So what are the Muses? 2/

Let's talk about "social justice."

The phrase, that is.

Social justice has always been one of our party's core commitments. Occasionally, however, we hear from people who like our platform but get squirrely about the term.

(Thread)

(The ASP Polandball is unrelated, we just think it's cute.)

Anyway, some people tend to associate social justice with "cancel culture" or with policy positions like abortion-on-demand that we oppose.

(Abortion is a social justice issue, by the way, just not the way its proponents think it is).

But while it's true that term sometime gets used in ways we don't support, we think the concept is far too important lose.

20-second history lesson: historically, some of the earliest writers to use the term "social justice" were working within the Catholic political tradition (one of the sources of Christian Democracy). Luigi Taparelli sometimes gets credit for coining it.

Southerners wrote songs about Warrington, formed peace movements because of IRA violence - but I can’t point to any mainstream effort to oppose/understand who the glenane gang, or Shankill butchers were, care about Loughinisland, state violence, &collusion.
V selective interest

They were and are revolted by SF glorifying murder but dont know or care about the deaths of catholics here. As I’ve seen the apathy to the life my parents lived, and the fear I grew up with, I always make it understood I’m Irish but from the north. Because it’s important

Showing absolutely no interest in the murder of the people in the areas SF are elected to represent is really selectively deciding whose lives you think are worth anything. I doubt anyone south of Louth Monaghan or Cavan could tell you or care about the Reavey brothers

There was and is no hand wringing about children being shot in the fields by soldiers in front of their parents or hunted down in their own house and killed in front of their families- where were the marches, the songs, the movements?

“But Sinn Fein said this”- is of zero comfort to victims of state or loyalist violence and you are actually framing their loved ones murders in such a way that you’re almost making them partially culpable for their own fate or excusing it somehow when it’s nothing to do with SF

THREAD: Pence never mattered

1. Recall: None of the authorities or courts in disputed swing-states were interested in looking at the merits of the fraud allegations.

Recall: The swing-states rushed to certify the vote count, despite active court cases and mountains of evidence.

#PLEIADIAN COLLECTIVE

1. Friends Of Earth!

Indeed, Your Soul Has Recorded This Waking Dream In The Akashic Of Your Heart Chakra!  Like Other Dreams It Is Sacred And Nothing Is Random Or Wasted! This Dream However Will Propel You To The Beginning Of Your Existence!

2. The Joy Set Before You Is Exponential And Magnificent In The Nature Of Being! All Lives In All Densities Will Never Be Lost! The Gift Will Be That You Remember Them All. You Will At Last Understand As Your Being Glows In The Sacred Essence Of The ONE.

3. In These Moments Shared Now, You Should Be Able To Share Your Own Experiences And Feelings Without Being Told What Is True For You!  The Freedom Of The Soul Is Of Great Significance!

4. When You Find There Are Many Telling You What You Are Allowed To Speak Or Feel, You Are Dealing With Evil. 'Overcome Evil With Good.' How Will You Overcome This? Do You Understand It Is Upon You Now?

5. Those Of You, Who Felt Inhibited By What Was Once The Consensus Overview, Will Begin To Emerge With A Sense That It Is Safe To Talk About How You Really Feel And What Is Really Happening On Your Part Of The Planet!

1) I keep thinking about the insurrection that happened on January 6, 2021. I keep thinking as these people get arrested and released that it’s not enough. A first I wonder if I just wanted “revenge” on them, but I realized it’s not that at all. What I want is for something like

2) that to never happen again. If a strong message isn’t sent out about these actions then there becomes a strong possibly it will happen again. With only a slap on the wrist nothing will be learned at all by these people. Even now you can see trump supporters and other GOP

3) down playing what happened and pretending like what happened is no big deal. If we allow this to happen this means we are saying their actions were not that bad. This is what they want. We however should want better. We have to hold everyone involved to a severe accountability

4) if for no other reason than to make sure those that would even consider doing something like this will think twice since they’ll know it’s going to result in more than a slap on the wrist. They won’t think twice about doing it again if the charges only result in something

5) like a fine and/or probation. They wear it as a badge of honor and continue on with their anti American actions behaviors and beliefs. However if these charges result in prison sentences and a loss of things like their gun rights. Then suddenly they’ll take what happened

Every argument against raising the minimum wage involves pointing to some other part of our broken system as if it were a beloved cultural treasure to defend rather than just the next unacceptable thing that needs fixing.

“How is it fair to pay people making minimum wage $30k a year when high school teachers start at that?” as if stagnant wages for teachers were an unrelated matter; don’t worry, Bill, we’ll get to it.

Everyone should have the means to survive and thrive and if the current system doesn't provide for that then nuts to the current system; we shouldn't work for it, it should work for us.

This is (pretty obviously to me) the real reason our leaders are so resistant to giving people the relief money needed to combat Covid.

They can't risk exposing the truth that you can actually just give people the money they need and nothing will break.

Our leaders are working to protect a system, but they shouldn't work for the system, they should work for us. The survival and thriving of human beings is the goal. Any part of any system that doesn't work toward that goal can be jettisoned.

Is this obvious, it feels obvious.

Thread
WHO PULLS THE EVIL STRINGS?

Black Pope Adolfo Nicolas, Superior General of the Society of Jesus Diabolical Plan for a New World Order.

The Black pope is THE ANTICHRIST

He was taken down in may 2020 during operation Europe defender.

OK! Who's ready to talk at great length and in great detail about prices? #AdamSmith, that's who! (I.v) #BuckleUp because this is the first of three chapters Smith prepped us for yesterday. (I.v) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We're about get into some #LaborTheoryOfValue. (I.v.1–18) We, the SmithTweeters, are firmly on board with the #MarginalRevolution (and we are fans of @MarginalRevolt). But Smith's theory is more complex than is often recognized. #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets #ValueHowDoesItWork

The caricature version of the #LaborTheoryOfValue is that the longer you work on a thing, the more it must be worth. This is obviously wrong, and Smith (and Marx, btw) would agree that it's wrong. (I.v.1–18) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

(We know this version of the #LaborTheoryOfValue is wrong because we once carved a giant statue of #AdamSmith out of haggis. Took us hours. No one wanted to buy it. Go know!)

Again: We think the #LaborTheoryOfValue as it's actually presented is wrong, too, but we should at least understand how it's wrong and where it's right. (I.v.1–18) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

X : Do you not like any Conservatives?
Me : Of course I do. Being Old Labour (Socialist), I have a closer affinity to many One Nation Tories than I do with Blairites, Thatcherites or Communists. Vice versa One Nation. We value the market as a tool, society matters more.

X : So you think the current One Nation Gov is ok?
Me : Most of the One Nation Conservatives were kicked out of the party. Largesse with the Gov purse in a "Chumocracy" is not what Disraeli meant by "One Nation".

X : I don't understand the point you're making?
Me : Both parties - Labour and Conservative - have tended to be broad churches. You'll often find agreement within groups from multiple parties and infighting between groups within a party.

... so when you say "Do you not like any Conservatives" then you're making two assumptions - that Labour is one thing and that Conservatives are one thing. It's not the case, never has been.

You choose a party, a broad church, based upon general consensus i.e. you agree with more of their policies than you agree with some other party's policies. That doesn't mean you never agree with the other party's policies or people within the other party - of course you do.

Data drop! Some numbers, nuggets and trends for bowl season which I find interesting...

Miami has lost 9 of its last 10 bowl games and is 2-10 ATS in its last 12 bowl games. Oklahoma State has covered each of its last four bowl games, three coming as an underdog.

This is the first time since 2011 Texas is favored in a bowl game...

Wisconsin has won five of their last six bowl games with the only loss in that span a one-point loss to Oregon last year in the Rose Bowl. Each of Wake Forest’s last five bowl games have been one-possession games (6, 3, 3, 8, 6)...

Mike Leach coached teams are 1-9 ATS in their last ten bowl games (4-6 SU). Included in those ten games are four outright losses and a 1-7 ATS mark as a favorite. In the last five years, Leach’s teams have averaged 19.6 PPG in bowl games (28 is the high in that span)...

Smith Fans! It’s the conclusion of chapter 11 of #WealthOfNations!! We made it! (1.xi.p.2) https://t.co/Tb0JBqJs9E
#WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Improvements make things cheaper, but they also raise the rent of land, which makes landlords richer, and lets them purchase more labor. Neglect and decay, though, make everyone poorer. (1.xi.p.2–6) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Smith says landowners won't mislead the public about what’s in the public interest, because their interest aligns with the public interest. Also they're lazy and kind of dumb, because they don't have to do anything to make their money. (I.xi.p.8) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

The kerfuffle over the Enclosure Acts might have given him second thoughts. (1.xi.p.8) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Laborers suffer the most when a society is in decline. But they are incapable (‽‽‽‽‽) of understanding how they are tied to society at large. (1.xi.p.9) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Finally watched The Bee Gees doc. I’ve always been a fan but I have new respect for their artistry.

I am *especially* glad that the doc explicitly called out the fact that the “death of disco” was pointedly homophobic and racist.

I do wish a bit more time had been spent on the fact that The Bee Gees, as hard as it was to survive the blowback, were able to do so both because of their musical & writing talent and because they were all white straight men. The latter doesn’t diminish their gifts.

But plenty of extremely talented Black and LGBTQ artists of color never survived the undermining of and blowback against (bad) disco.

Disco-and songs that are really R&B but got that commercial label-is rooted firmly in a Black tradition The Bee Gees always acknowledged.

And none of that can be separated from the attacks on it.

The scene of the Black former Comiskey Park usher is one I’ll think about for a long time. “It was a racist, homophobic book burning. That’s all it was.”

True tea, which the doc also brilliantly explored: a lot of the “disco” folks hated was actually trash bc straight white men got greedy and commercialized it beyond recognition and quality.

So a bunch of artists who were talented beyond a genre-including The Bee Gees-were harmed

If a small child scrapes her knee, her parent might "kiss it better". This does nothing, but both parties appreciate the ritual. Hanson finds that empirically, many medical interventions do nothing, but we pay for them, because they are an adult version of "kiss the boo boo"

Our institutions are prodigiously wasteful. Under the feel-good veneer of win-win cooperation—teaching kids, healing the sick, celebrating creativity—our institutions harbor giant, silent furnaces of intra-group competitive signaling

trillions of dollars of wealth, resources, and human effort are being burned to ash every year, largely for the purpose of showing off... institutions do end up achieving many of their official goals [but] they’re simultaneously serving purposes no one is eager to acknowledge

People are judging us all the time. They want to know if we’ll make good friends, allies, lovers, or leaders. And one of the important things they’re judging is our motives. Why do we behave the way we do? Do we have others’ best interests at heart, or are we entirely selfish?

Because others are judging us, we’re eager to look good. So we emphasize our pretty motives and downplay our ugly ones. It’s not lying, exactly, but neither is it perfectly honest.

1/ The poor during lockdown;

In poorer, working class towns, the majority of jobs, when there are any, are in supermarkets and the care (mainly elderly) industry. This makes them “key workers”.

2/ It’s then of no surprise that poor schools, in poor areas are dealing with large amounts of “key worker” children

One local school has 150 “key worker” children, which, by the headmaster’s own admission, makes closing the schools utterly pointless and “defeats the object”

3/ Any other children in the local area are, more likely than not, the children of the unemployed.

In towns like Camborne, Pool, and Redruth, where house prices are extortionate, wages incredibly low, compared to the rest of the UK,

4/ Water rates and Council Tax higher than anywhere else in the UK outside of London*for decades, having a baby and getting a council property has been a career choice, as opposed to something to fall back on in a time of desperation.

5/In towns Like Camborne, there is little opportunity. There are few Doctors, Architects, Brain Surgeons, entrepreneurs, Solicitors, and various other successful people to inspire the next generation. Because, of course, people earning that sort of money,